It is taken for granted,
but sometimes it is worth reminding
ourselves just how lucky today's music
lover is. He has access to all kinds
of music, can go to concerts, buy records
- and often he can even choose between
several interpretations of his favourite
pieces of music. Compare this with the
16th century: a lot of brilliant music
was written, but how many people were
able to hear it?

That some of the best
music could be heard outside the churches
or courts for which it was composed
was due to the fact that it was adapted
to be played on one or several musical
instruments. In particular lute players
were active in this field. Sometimes
vocal pieces were performed by instruments
alone, sometimes one vocal part was
preserved while the other parts were
set for one or more instruments. On
this disc the music of one of the most
important composers of sacred music
around 1600, Tomás Luis de Victoria,
is performed in adaptations for voice
and lute, interspersed with some intavolations
for lute or vihuela solo.

In the liner notes
Pepe Rey refers to two contemporary
sources which reflect this practice
from which about a third of the pieces
on the programme have been taken. The
others have been created by the performers
themselves, 'recreating' as it were
the practice of Victoria's time.

One peculiar feature
of this recording is the use of the
cornet in some of the items. This seems
a little out of place here, since the
combination of voice and lute or vihuela
is in particular appropriate for domestic
performances, whereas the cornet is
much more an instrument to be used in
a church venue. In the items where the
cornet is used - mainly where the upper
part is too high for Carlos Mena's voice
- the balance between the three participants
isn't entirely satisfying.

If one knows the motets
and mass sections recorded here in their
original form - and some items on this
disc are pretty well-known - one needs
to get used to these 'reductions'. But
it has to be said that the character
of the originals is maintained quite
well. And Carlos Mena seems to be well
aware of the content of the pieces he
sings. The exaltation of some of them
comes through quite nicely, like the
motet 'O magnum mysterium'. Although
in general we don't find a very close
relationship between text and music
in Victoria's oeuvre - there are no
madrigalisms of any kind - sometimes
a line is eloquently illustrated in
the music, like "certavit usque ad mortem"
(strove even unto death) in the motet
'Iste Sanctus', where the upper part
goes down quite deeply. Carlos Mena
uses his chest register to great effect
here.

This is a fine recording
which sheds light on a wide-spread practice
in the renaissance which hasn't been
given much attention to.

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